Company news: Pfizer and Dendreon

Pfizer said it won FDA approval to market its pneumococcal conjugate vaccine Prevnar 13for use in adults 50 and older. The expanded indication was expected following November's near-unanimous advisory panel vote in favor of the approval, something the EU, Australia, Mexico and more than 10 other countries have also granted. Bernstein Research's Tim Anderson has said that the new indication could add $700 million to global sales by 2015 and won't cannibalize Prevnar's use in the pediatric population.

Dendreon said cancer vaccine Provenge racked up $82 million in revenue during the fourth quarter. That represents 25% growth over sales in third-quarter 2011 while bringing full-year revenue to $228 million. That's below analyst projections but still respectable, considering in August Dendreon withdrew its Provenge sales forecast because it was taking longer than expected for doctors to become comfortable with the pricey product's buy-and-bill scheme. In a note to investors, ISI Group's Mark Schoenebaum pointed out that the majority of the quarterly growth came from clinics added after October 1 but predicted older clinics would begin driving growth as they get comfortable with reimbursement and that Provenge should beat current consensus 2012 sales of approx. $370 million.